Heroes saved man from frozen lake as police were told not to attempt rescue

Ramesh Dattani survived the plunge through the ice at Watermead Country Park, Leicestershire, in January.

His two brothers, Dinesh Dattani, 45, and Kisor Narandos, 55, who fell with him, both died.

An inquest into their deaths at Leicester Town Hall heard that the three brothers were unaware of the lake's existence and believed they were walking on solid ground.

Rescuer Adam Whitehead, 22, said he and his friend Sam Trewick went on to the ice to rescue Ramesh Dattani after they heard a fourth brother, Bharat Dattani, raise the alarm.

He described crawling on to the ice towards Ramesh and throwing him a rope. They were on top of a hill when they heard a man shouting.

"We saw one man with his head out of the water and we decided to run down the hill towards him.

"We started to walk across the ice, then got down on all fours and crawled in his direction."

When he learned there were two other people in the water, he told Ramesh to try to get them out, but he was unable to.

"He had no energy", said Mr Whitehead, a motor sport engineering student at Coventry University. "He couldn't do anything." They then got him onto the ice.

Police arrived at the scene and one officer ignored protocol and went out on to the ice to bring in Ramesh.

But another officer told the inquest that he had not gone on to the ice as he and his colleagues lacked the necessary training and equipment.

Police sergeant Andy Price said: "Officers attempted to walk out on to the ice. We couldn't effect the rescue of the two bodies in the water as we didn't have specialist kit or training for that sort of rescue."

But another police sergeant, Mark Ringrose, told how he had contravened guidelines not to attempt a rescue on the ice.

A helicopter had been scrambled and a crew member had managed to drag Dinesh out of the water and leave him on the ice, 33ft-40ft from the shore.

Sgt Ringrose described his frustration that the emergency services "weren't doing anything". He tied a rope around him and other officers held it while he went out on the ice.

Asked by coroner Catherine Mason why he did this without training and kit, he said: "I was trying to save his life. He was potentially still alive. I just did it really. Mrs Mason recorded a verdict of accidental death for both men.